


Growing Pains

by hrhiggy



Category: Glee
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-21
Updated: 2018-03-21
Packaged: 2019-04-05 11:29:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14043306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hrhiggy/pseuds/hrhiggy
Summary: Kurt and Blaine’s son is acting out for the first time ever, and in the heat of an argument says something that the husbands had never thought they’d hear from their son.





	Growing Pains

**Author's Note:**

> currently in the process of taking fanfic posted to my tumblr between 2012-2014 and archiving it here on Ao3. This fanfiction was posted to tumblr in November of 2012, around when my url probably would have been "klacoustic" or "blamtastic" (but i'm not sure? I changed it a lot). It has not been edited or changed since, and will not be continuing or updating in the future

"Oh my god I’m thirteen years old! Stop treating me like a baby!“ The pre-teen boy yelled, his dark, wavy hair falling into his face. 

"Hey! Do not talk to your father like that!” Kurt scolded his son, pointing his finger threateningly. 

Eli rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest. “Why shouldn’t I? You guys are being so annoying!” His voice got progressively louder, red rising in his face. 

Blaine wasn’t even sure what they were arguing for. Eli had been acting stand-offish all night. He was too quiet while they watched tv together, and his contributions to the discussion at family dinner were forced and stilted at best. After dinner, when Blaine asked Eli whether or not if he’d done his homework yet, he’d just… snapped. 

“Eli,” Blaine said, using a decidedly calmer voice than his husband. “Is there something you’re not telling us? Is there trouble at school or… something?” It was obvious that Blaine was on unsure footing here. They’d never really had troubles with Eli before. He’d always been a well-mannered boy. Always so polite and mature for his age. Kurt and Blaine were usually thanking their lucky stars they had such an easy-going son.

Now? Kurt was starting to wonder if they’d been lulled into a false sense of security, because they had no clue how to handle this.

“The only problem I have is you two! You’re always right there hovering over me! I can’t do anything without you _right there_. Do you know how hard it is to just go to school and have a normal day when dad drops me off wearing his weird clothes?! Or how embarrassing it is when the loudest cheerleader at my soccer games is my papa wearing bowties with soccer balls on them?”

Eli didn’t stop once to take a break, like a dam had broken and he just couldn’t hold it in any more. “Do you want to know why almost all of my friends are girls?! It’s because none of the guys want to hang out with the kid who has fags for parents!”

The words were like a slap in the face to the husbands. Blaine actually took a step back in shock. Kurt was rooted to his spot behind the kitchen counter. As soon as he realized what he said, Eli’s face paled and his arms fell to his sides.

There was a long period of silence before anyone spoke. “Shit, guys. I’m sorry I…” Eli trailed off, at a loss for words.

Kurt took a deep breath, attempting to speak around the lump in his throat. “Don’t curse, Eli.” He sounded guarded, defeated. The look on his sons face was akin to heartbreak.

“I really didn’t mean—“

“We know, buddy.” Blaine said, walking over to stand beside his husband. “For now it’s probably best if you just go to your room, okay? Make sure all of your homework is done.” He tried to smile at Eli, hoping to send him a sign that it was alright, but the gesture came off as forced at best.

Eli nodded and turned, heading towards the stairs. “I really am sorry, you guys.” His voice cracked on his words as he obviously tried not to cry.

“It’s okay, Bud. We’ll be up soon to see if you need any help, okay?” Blaine assured him, trying with every bit of his strength not to show the disappointment he was feeling.

————————————————–

Almost half an hour later there was a knock on Eli’s bedroom door, and without waiting for an answer Kurt slowly opened the door to peak his head in. “Hey bud, you mind if I come in?” He asked in a voice that showed his hesitance and nervousness.

Eli looked up from his open history book that Kurt was sure he hadn’t read a word from and nodded slowly.

Kurt walked into the room and stood over Eli’s bed. The pre-teen himself was looking down at his Star-Wars sheets, too ashamed to actually look at his father. “Mind if I take a seat?” Kurt asked, going for casual.

“Yeah. Sure.” Was the answering grumble.

Kurt sighed and sat down in front of his son. He picked up the textbook and placed it out of the way. “Do you… want to tell me what that was all about?”

Eli didn’t look up, but he shook his head at the Luke Skywalker on his sheets. “No.”

“Eli, please just tell me.” Kurt insisted, “I’m your father and I want to help you.”

Eli began picking at a loose thread on the old blanket, and Kurt made a mental note to replace it sometime soon. “You’re worried about helping me? I mean… after what I said?” Eli finally looked up at his father, tears that he wasn’t willing to shed in his eyes.

Kurt scooted closer to his son to lay a hand on his shoulder. “Eli of course I do. You know that Papa and I will always be here to help you. We love you.”

“But I called you a…uh…”

“I know what you called us, Eli. We’ve heard the word before, trust me.” That only made Eli look more guilty, if it were possible. “What I mean is… your father and I have heard a lot of terrible things in our lives. One little word isn’t going to break us.”

Eli looked up to meet his Dad’s eyes. “I know it’s not, Dad, but I still feel like crap about it. You’re not supposed to hear that from your family. I didn’t even mean it! I love you guys. It’s just at school lately the guys have been saying… well you know.” Eli shrugged, obviously not wanting to get into the gritty details.

“Yeah, Eli. We know what the kids at school have been saying. But that doesn’t mean they’re right. Not about you and not about Papa and I. And just because you made a mistake doesn’t mean you don’t care about us. Papa and I both know that. You’re not the first member of our family to call us that, and you won’t be the last I’m sure.”

“Someone else in our family called you guys that?” Eli looked absolutely shocked, almost comically so, but Kurt didn’t think that was the right moment to laugh at his son.

“Sure. Next time you see Uncle Finn ask him about when we had to share a room. Or actually… don’t. There are parts of that story I’m not ready for you to hear yet.” Kurt laughed nervously, thinking back to his sophomore year of high school. Oh how things had changed.

“Look, Eli. The point I’m trying to make here is that your Papa and I know that you love us. We’re not about to start doubting that because of one mistake you made. But next time, we want you to talk to us before it gets to this point. We’re here to help you through stuff like this. We don’t want you looking at us as the enemy.” He wrapped an arm around his son, hugging him. “If you’re having trouble at school, you need to tell us so we can do something about it. And if that means toning down my outfits when I drop you off or asking Papa not to be so enthusiastic at Soccer games them so be it.”

“No!” Eli said, almost too quickly. “I didn’t mean that stuff I said downstairs! I like that you guys do that stuff for me. I like that you’re a designer and that dad treats me like an Olympian on game days. I guess I was just so mad at the kids from school that I just…. took it out on you.”

Kurt nodded knowingly. “Been there.” He said, remembering when he was a teenager. “So is everything okay for now?” he asked, just to be sure.

Eli offered a smile. “Yeah, Dad. Everything’s okay for now.”

“Good.” Kurt smiled back at him, then stood and walked towards the door before looking back. “Now let’s go downstairs. I left Papa in the kitchen to make us all some ice cream sundaes, who knows what he’s got done to the place by now.” Kurt and Eli, who could both cook circles around Blaine, giggled at the inside joke.

They both headed downstairs to find Blaine wiping up some spilled chocolate sauce with a chocolate ice cream stain on his collar. All three Hummel-Anderson’s shared a smile at the once they were together, all of them glad to see that they were okay.

“Well if it isn’t our own personal master chef.” Kurt said, walking around the kitchen counter to hug his husband from behind.

“Hey! I do my best.” Blaine insisted, motioning to the three sundaes sitting on the counter. “What do you think, Eli?”

Eli smiled a huge toothy smile that was reminiscent of his Papa’s, looking from the ice cream to his parents. “It looks awesome, Papa. I uh… I love you guys.”

Blaine and Kurt both looked at their son with pride, threading their hands together behind the counter. “We love you too. Now let’s eat!”


End file.
